What's Behind ‘Substantial Increases’ in Suicide Rate for Middle-Aged Americans? Bad Economy

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/economy/whats-behind-substantial-increases-suicide-rate-middle-aged-americans-bad-economy-likely

What's Behind ‘Substantial Increases’ in Suicide Rate for Middle-Aged Americans? Bad Economy Is Likely Culprit

The U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported on May 3, 2013 that “recent evidence suggests there have been substantial increases in suicide rates among middle-aged adults in the United States.”

CDC analyzed National Vital Statistics System mortality data from 1999–2010, and found that the suicide rate among Americans aged 35–64 years increased 28.4 percent (from 13.7 per 100,000 population in 1999 to 17.6 per 100,000 in 2010).

Among American men aged 35–64, the suicide rate increased 27.3 percent from 1999 to 2010, and among American women aged 35-64, the suicide rate increased 31.5 percent. Among men, the greatest increases were in those aged 50–54 years old (49.4 percent increase) and those aged 55–59 (a 47.8 percent increase). Among women, suicide rates increased with age, and the largest percentage increase in suicide rate was observed among those aged 60–64 years, a 59.7 percent increase for this group of women.

The suicide rate of those grouped as “whites” increased 40.4 percent from 1999 to 2010, the second highest increase among ethnic/racial groups. The highest increase among ethnic/racial groups was for “American Indian/Alaska Natives,” who saw a 65.2 percent increase in suicides.

[OneGrassRoot]

1. Yep, so much to say about this...

been speaking with a friend who runs a large suicide crisis center about this.

I've also had quite a few brilliant, experienced, wonderful people around my age (50-ish) express their despair and belief that they are worth more dead than alive since they can't find a job and any safety net they had created is now gone.

I empathize with them very, very much. It is absolutely awful.

Especially when you're middle-aged and have been struggling for a long time, you're simply tired and perhaps feel more defeated than those who are younger and just starting out, though certainly many of the younger people are feeling despair as well.

[Yo_Mama]

2. That doesn't seem to be true, at least for women.

I looked up the CDC study:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6217a1.htm?s_cid=mm6217a1_w



There's a strikingly poor correlation in the women's graph with the economy.

[PDJane]

3. This is not just the bad economy.

It's due to a mindset that emphasizes monetary use instead of value. It's due to deliberate government policies that don't value labour. It's due to a neo-con agenda that moves money, and quite deliberately, to the top.

If more people understood that they have very little to lose, perhaps that would change.

[dembotoz]

4. easy access to handguns a factor

you are broke and depressed and the way out is in the nightstand